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- Author interview - |
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A Spoonful of Murder: An Interview with Mary Welk By Susan McBride If you hear someone singing I Did It My Way, it might be Mary Welk, not the ghost of Frank Sinatra. Several years ago, Welk took a leap of faith when she couldn’t find a traditional publisher for A Deadly Little Christmas. She turned in her nurse’s scrubs and donned her publisher’s hat, releasing the novel herself under the Kleworks imprint. Not only did the book succeed, but sales were good enough to propel her to publish a second book featuring amateur sleuth and ER nurse Caroline Rhodes, called Something Wicked. Welk has done so well at marketing her own works that she didn’t even have to think twice before getting her latest To Kill a King onto the bookshelves. Read our review. SUSAN McBRIDE -Though more and more writers are going the self-publising route these days, it’s still a difficult path to take. I asked Mary how the idea for the Caroline Rhodes series came about and what was behind her decision to publish the books herself. MARY WELK - I started writing A Deadly Little Christmas late in 1992. The plot came from a story I'd written twenty years before and tucked away in my desk. It might have never seen the light of day again except for the fact that my father died in June 1992 while a patient in the hospital unit where I worked. His illness was never really diagnosed by the doctors. And though I poured over his chart looking for clues for his decline, I came up with nothing. It was extremely depressing, and it plagued me for months. I began writing DEADLY just to get my thoughts out in the open. Caroline Rhodes' depression over the death of her husband and her inability to prevent that death mirrored my own feelings about my father. Writing the book served to heal some of my own wounds, but then the story took on a life of its own. I began to think it might just be publishable, so I sent the manuscript to a professional editor who worked with me through six rewrites. In 1996, I entered it in the Malice Domestic First Novel Competition and the Hemingway First Novel Competition. It won neither, but was a finalist in the Hemingway contest. I also received a letter from the woman who had judged DEADLY for Malice Domestic. She said it was a great manuscript and urged me not to change a word and to enter the competition again in 1997. I planned to do just that. But then a small miracle happened. I'd sent out copies to several people, and one of them liked it enough to offer me financial backing if I'd self-publish the book. At first, I turned down the offer. But then I took a class in self-publishing and decided I could do it. I formed Kleworks Publishing Company in 1998 and published A Deadly Little Christmas that same year. The book later won the Readers Choice Award for Best First Mystery at the Love Is Murder mystery convention. Where did the character of Caroline come from? How much of your own life is blended into hers? Caroline Rhodes is an amalgam of several fine nurses I've known during my career. While her thought processes mirror my own in many ways, she also possesses characteristics unique to other people I've worked with. Caroline has three children while I have six. But I must confess that her children are modeled on my three oldest and her daughter-in-law, while similar in appearance to a nurse I once worked with, has the gentle personality of my own daughter-in-law. This has, of course, caused some contention in my family. My daughter Jenni firmly denies any resemblance to the theatrical Kerry, Caroline's youngest daughter, while my Sarah claims she's not quite as practical and strong-minded as her counterpart, Krista. My son Joseph grumbles a bit over his likeness to Martin, Caroline's son; but Joe's wife Melissa just smiles agreeably over the comparison. My other two sons and youngest daughter are just happy I've not described them. When did you start to write? Is it something you’ve done all your life? I've been writing since I was a teenager. My first short story was published in a grade school newspaper. I've written poetry, short stories, and plays since then. I bought a guitar when I was 16 and started writing music soon after. I sang with a couple of small-time local folk music groups back in the '60's, and met my husband in 1967 through a friend who figured we might get along because we both played guitar. He played better than I, but I wrote better music! Thirty-three years later, we're still going strong. Why does a hospital make such a good backdrop for a murder mystery? Hospitals make good settings for murder mysteries for several reasons. First, the turnover of characters is constant. Both patients and workers come and go at an amazing rate - patients faster than workers, of course. Still, because employees move from hospital to hospital more often today than in the past, new characters can crop up in a believable way. Since every character brings with them a past, this allows for a multitude of storylines. Many patients are what we call "frequent flyers," folks who land in the hospital multiple times each year. Often the staff gets to know these patients and their families on a first name basis. This unique relationship also lends itself to storytelling. Another reason I like the hospital setting is because it lends itself to a multitude of methods for killing off characters. In To Kill a King, I use a construction site at the hospital as the setting for a murder. While hanging is not your typical medical solution for disposing of a victim, ongoing construction work at large hospitals is such a normal activity today that it cries out for inclusion in a mystery novel. There are plenty of other medical ways to knock off a victim, everything from overdoses to shutting down ventilators, all of which can be done without notice if the killer is clever enough. My third reason for using a hospital setting is because a natural and on-going conflict still exists between those in power and those not in power in a hospital. Nurses are low men on the totem pole in the hierarchy of a medical center. This alone causes conflict between doctors and nurses, and between administration and nurses. A wealth of plots may be developed from these conflicts. In summary, a hospital provides a writer with characters, plots, setting, and methods of murder. How does the writing and publishing process go for you? Can you summarize what happens once you’ve completed a manuscript until it hits the shelves? Writing is hard, but the publishing and promoting side of the business is much harder. It's a struggle for an unknown author to get noticed by booksellers if he or she isn't distributed by a New York publisher. As a publisher, I spend a good deal of time making contacts with booksellers through publicity mailings and direct calls. I belong to the Independent Mystery Publishers, a group of small press publishers who work together to promote books through biannual catalogs, advertisements, and an active presence at mystery and booksellers' conventions. I was a babe in the woods when I started in this business. I know a lot more now, but I'm learning more and more each day. Sending a book to press is only the beginning. One must then connect with Ingrams, Baker & Taylor, and Brodarts for distribution to bookstores as most stores prefer to order through these sources. I’ve also connected with most online bookseller sites. I developed a website for the business and must update it as often as possible. Arranging book signings and appearances takes up another chunk of time. Then of course there's the shipping and accounting side of the business. I ship to the distributors, some bookstores, and to individuals ordering through the website. I also do my own invoices, keep the books, design publicity flyers and handouts, and file the ubiquitous tax forms. I employ an accountant for the end-of-the-year taxes and constant business advice. I’m also aided by my two oldest daughters: one serves as my sales rep and helps with invoicing, while the other works on publicity and keeps my files in order. I try to devote three hours a night to writing while working on the business end during the daytime hours. What have your experiences as both a publisher and an author taught you about this difficult business? I've learned from working in small press publishing and talking with other authors that, number one, I'll never become rich in this business. The cost of printing and publicity for a book leaves little for profit. One writes because one has to. It's an obsession, an addiction that must be satisfied regardless of the personal cost. I've also learned that there are wonderful people out there who love books as much as I do, and I've had the great pleasure of meeting many of them. Yes, it's a difficult business that consumes most of your waking moments. But the rewards are plentiful. My husband and I have traveled more than ever before, going to conferences and signings, and we’ve had some wild adventures along the way. The greatest reward though comes when I meet someone who says he or she loves my books. It still amazes me that people actually enjoy reading what I write. If you had to do it all over again, would you do it the same way? If I had to do it all over again, I'm not sure which way I'd go. I now have total control of my work and my destiny, a definite plus for self-publishing. Still, I wouldn't mind leaving some of the work in the hands of a small press publisher other than myself. I don't think I'd go with a New York publisher, given the climate today where authors are dropped as quickly as they're signed on, promotion is non-existent except for best-selling authors, and contracts leave much to be desired as far as authors' rights go. I see little benefit in signing with one of the Big Seven, except for distribution, where they are undoubtedly the powerhouses in the business. Any advice for aspiring writers? My advice for aspiring authors is to concentrate on their skills. No manuscript is perfect, and rewriting is probably the most important part of the job, with editing coming in a close second. We all tend to fall in love with our own work, so it's necessary to get objective opinions and heed the advice given us. Despite the six rewrites on my first book, I'd still like to go back and change some things in it, now that I've gained more experience. How can readers contact you? Readers can reach my by email at kleworks@aol.com or by snail mail at 6127 N. Ozark Ave., Chicago, IL 60631. |
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